Flames
by ContinuedSilence
Summary: Amy's house is on fire. She's inside.
1. Chapter 1

That cold November night, it seemed like half of town town was packed together behind the barriers in front of Amy Juergen's house. There had to be at least 50 people crowding the street. They watched, looks of horror on their faces, as the bright orange and yellow flames engulfed the small, one story structure. Many were in shock as they watched the thick plume of dark gray smoke rise into the black sky.

There were two fire trucks in the street as firefighters battled the flames consuming and destoying the house. The light from the fire along with the lights of the trucks illuminated the people in the street. The light of the trucks bounced from person to person, as the men fought what seemed to be a never ending battle with the stubborn flames that had taken over the house and refused to be put out. They shouted orders at one another, telling each other where to go and what to do, though nobody on the street watching knew what they were saying.

It was a nightmare. A seemingly never ending nightmare that nobody had ever dreamed of witnessing. They never thought of the possibilities of a fire happening to them, their family or their friends. It wasn't something that many people constantly worried about, though now they wished they had, now that it was happening to the Juergens, who were actually out of town

* * *

Ricky was asleep when his phone went off on the table besides his bed. The loud, high pitched ringing woke Ricky from his dreamless sleep. He kept his eyes shut and reached blindly for his phone. He grabbed it and brought it to his ear.

"Hello." He said though it sounded like nothing more than a grumble.

"_Ricky?" _said the voice on the other end of the phone. Ricky couldn't put a name to the voice but it sounded panic filled. _"It's Ruben. You need to get over here. Now. _

"Why?"

"_Amy's house. It's on fire."_

As soon as the words reached Ricky's ears, he was wide awake. He jumped out of bed, tossing his phone back onto the table. His heart and mind were racing. He tried to put his thoughts together but proved unsuccessful. He raced around the apartment, crashing into things, knocking them over and he grabbed things and shoved them into a bag. After a few minutes, he put his shoes on, grabbed John who woke and started crying instantly, and raced out the door.

* * *

After dropping John off at his Margaret's house, where he explained everything in a rush, though all she could make out were the words 'fire' and 'Amy,' Ricky pulled to Amy's and rushed out of his car. His eyes widened and breath hitched at the sight in front of him. A crowd of people, firefighters and trucks, a plume of thick gray smoke rising out of the house and the flames that were doing so much damage to the tiny structure. He spotted Ruben and Adrian and rushed over to them.

"What the hell is going on? Where the hell is Amy?" he rushed out.

"By the time they arrived, the entire house was already under. Going in there is much to risky, it can collapse any minute."

But Ricky wasn't listening to him. He started running before Ruben had finished speaking. He ran through the crowd as if he were in a marathon, running as fast as possible, pushing people out of the way, ignoring they're shouts of protest as they were shoved. He ran up to the barrier and tried to get through but was held back by a police officer.

"You have to stay back, son."

"But there's a girl in there." Ricky shouted at him, still trying to get past.

"Listen, we're doing everything we can to get her out. You need to step back."

"You idiots aren't doing shit." Ricky shouted, his face growing red, his anger level rising.

"Sir, you need to calm down and step back, before I have you removed from the scene."

Ricky stopped struggling to get by, knowing it would get him nowhere but in trouble. Tears sprang to his eyes as he looked past the officer at the house, fully aware that Amy was inside, dying or already dead.

He turned around and pushed his way to the back of the group of people, ignoring the stares he was receiving as he did so. He sat on a curb, tears streaming down his face. He hadn't felt this way in years; so powerless and not being able to do a damn thing about the situation that was unfolding in front of him. It made him feel weak, a feeling Ricky loathed.

Adrian saw Ricky sit down and walked over, taking a seat next to him.

"You know," she started, "There's nobody over there." She pointed to where the door that led into the kitchen was. "I'm sure if you really wanted to, you could get in through there."

Ricky followed her finger and saw what she was pointing at. She was right. It would take a little bit of time but there was ways to get into the house. Adrian noticed the look of thought on his face and smirked.

"Just a thought."

It might've been "just a thought," but it was a good thought. A good thought that could get Ricky inside to save Amy's life. Though it could end up in Ricky being killed, he didn't pay attention to the possible consequence. His mind was on Amy, he would do whatever it took to get her out of that house.

Ricky didn't put any more thought into it. He stood up and ran down the street, not caring at the moment whether people saw him or not. Three houses down was a two story mint green house. He turned abruptly and ran up the driveway that led to a garage behind the house, next to the backyard.

He hopped the silver chain link fence that sat next to the garage, separating yards, with ease. He hopped the next two as well and he was in Amy's backyard.

He didn't stop running until he got to the door leading into the kitchen despite his lungs' protests. His chest was starting to burn but he didn't have the time to stop and catch his breath. He needed to get into the house quickly.

He searched around the door for a key that wasn't there. Breathing heavily, he knelt down and felt the ground. His hand ran across rough pavement and through dirt but there was nothing. He stood up and punched the bottom right rectangular window, closest to the doorknob. His knuckles and forearm were immediately overcome with a seering pain, though Ricky just clenched his teeth and continued on, unlocking and opening the door, trying to ignore the pain.

As soon as Ricky was inside the house, his lungs were filled with smoke and his eyes were watering. He got got down on his hands and knees and covered his nose with his shirt. He tried to keep his eyes open but the pain was too great and visibility was zero, so he shut them tight.

Ricky crawled his way through the kitchen, his hand outstretched in front of him, feeling for obstacles that he had to avoid. He made his way through the kitchen, feeling around for the wall and avoidig the chairs and fridge his hand came into contact with.

Smoke filled his nose and it was getting harder and harder to breathe as he ventured down the hallway, and despite having been in the house for only a minute; it was a minute too long.

He reached the end of the hallway, and turned left in direction of the bedrooms. Traveling through the house wasn't the hard part, it actually only took a few minutes. The burning of his lungs and lack of oxygen was no doubt one of the most difficult things Ricky's had to endure in his life.

He reached the end of the hallway, where Amy's room was right before it turned to the left. His body was exhausted, which showed with his difficulty to stand and open the door. He did though, after a few seconds and he pushed through it.

Ricky's knees were sore as he walked after being walked on for minutes. He opened his eyes and was met with nothing but smoke and pain; he shut them again, not seeing a point to keeping them open. He walked in the direction he knew Amy's bed was, and felt around.

He felt the softness of comforter and flatness, and he ran his hand around in circles until it hit something. He moved his hand so it followed what it hit and realized it went up and back to straight. He moved his hand right and it went straight, then up and back down. It was Amy's leg.

He moved his hand to back and felt around, gabbing the comforter and pulling it off Amy's still body. He didn't have much time as she wasn't moving and his breaths were short, deep, rasps. He was losing the battle for air and didn't have much time.

He kept his right hand at her legs and the other felt around for an arm. Once he got it, he pushed his arm under her so it was behind her back. The right hand made it's way under Amy's knees. Ricky braced himself and took a deep breath before lifting her. Every muscle in his body protested but he made his way to the other side of the room, to the window.

With struggle he lifted his leg and kicked the window. Glass flew on impact and a gaping hole was a result of the kick. Ricky couldn't think anymore. He just acted. He helped Amy through the hole in the window, dropping her onto the ground in relief. A few seconds later, Ricky followed. He hit the ground and slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Ricky and Amy walked down slowly down the street, hand in hand, on an early Saturday morning. Despite the earliness of the day, the sun was bright and the air was warm. The sky was a soft and subtle blue and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Birds chirped in the trees and squirrels skittered across a telephone wire, one chasing the other.

Amy and Ricky had been silent throughout the entirety their walk. They didn't feel the need to talk, instead they listened to the sounds all around them and basked in the feeling of being close to one another.

They walked with each other in slow, synchronized steps. They would glance at each other occasionally, communicating with just a glance, telling the other how happy they were at that moment.

The pair continued walking down the street, no single destination in mind. They would just walk until they wanted to stop or got tired and wanted to go back. Ricky glanced at the shorter girl next to him, taking in her beauty and admiring her; her personality, her strength, just everything that made Amy, Amy.

"Have you ever thought about us?" Ricky asked, while looking at her.

"What?" Amy asked. The first words spoken during the walk so far startled her out of her own thoughts.

"Have you ever thought about us?" Ricky repeated the question. "You, me, John."

Amy looked at him questioningly. "Yeah . Yeah, of course I have. Why?"

"I think about us a lot though mainly you and I."

"Okay..." Amy said. She was confused and really didn't know what Ricky was getting at through this conversation.

"Well, I was thinking that even though you and I are still in college, we could become a real family."

They stopped walking and Amy turned to face him. "What do you mean a real family?"

Ricky smiled and got down on his knee. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened the box revealing a silver ring, with a round diamond in the middle and smaller diamonds going halfway down the each side of the band. "Marry me."

Amy stared at the ring in Ricky' hand for a few seconds not fully registering what he had said. Her gaze went from the ring to Ricky's face and back until his words finally reached her.

When she made sense of what he said, she began nodding frantically as tears sprang to her eyes. Ricky smiled and stood off the ground, taking Amy's hand in his and placing the ring on her finger.

Amy threw her arms around Ricky and squeezed and his hands wrapped around her back. He lifted her off the ground and spun in a circle once before pulling away. He looked into her eyes and leaned forward, placing a soft but passionate kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss eagerly until they parted with a smile their faces.

* * *

Ricky's eyes fluttered open as he awoke from his dream. He glanced in front of him and saw Margaret in a chair in the corner of the room, reading a magazine. He looked at what he could around him and realized he was in a hospital, though he didn't know why. He tried to push himself up higher but grunted in pain.

His bones were throbbing and he had a splitting headache. He looked as his arms where there were multiple cuts, and bruises. His right hand and wrist were bandaged and he had burns on his left arm and hand.

Margaret heard and noise and looked up to see Ricky awake, surveying what he could see of himself. She got out of the chair and rushed to the side of his bed, taking his right hand in hers.

Ricky winced at the sharp pain that shot through his hand as his mom grabbed it, though he pushed it aside and gave her hand a slight squeeze. He saw relief on her face though the worry hadn't disappeared, and he looked he in the eyes to try and reassure her that he was okay.

"What happened?" He asked, his throat sore, his voice raspy.

Tears filled Margaret's eyes at his question. "There was a fire, Ricky. Amy was in it."

The events of the fire filled Ricky's mind and he remembered everything. The smoke, the flames and the heat, his eyes burning as well as his throat and the struggle to get air into his lungs. Most of all he remembered Amy in the fire, lying on the floor unconscious.

"That's right." Ricky muttered to nothing in particular. "Is she okay?"

* * *

I swear, I won't make you guys wait another two and a half years for the next chapter. It's already halfway written


End file.
